Method and apparatus for pneumatic regulation a high-pressure reserve

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for regulating fluid pressure are described. A fluid regulator with relatively large passages and a high-pressure reserve may improve performance when the regulator is used in a sustained sequence. A smaller area stem piston may make the regulated pressure more independent of the input pressure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to,and the benefit of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/434,605, filedMay 9, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,761, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

NOTICE OF MATERIAL SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the material in this patent document is subject tocopyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States andof other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objectionto the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the United States patent andTrademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does nothereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintainedin secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37C.F.R. § 1.14.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to pressurized fluid control andregulation valves and more particularly to an air pressure regulatorwith a high-pressure reserve for use with a paintball marker.

2. Description of Related Art

The sport of paintball is an activity where the participants useair-powered paintball markers to impel frangible balls filled withcolored liquid at opposing participants. When the frangible ball, alsoreferred to as a paintball, strikes an opponent, it breaks and releasesthe contents of the paintball leaving a mark. The air used to impel apaintball, in the typical paintball marker, is normally stored in abottle at a pressure in the range of approximately 800 to 4,500 psi. Thepressured air exits the bottle into a primary regulator that regulatesand supplies air in the range of approximately 400 to 1000 psi. Theprimary regulator remains attached to the bottle and provides aconnector to allow the bottle to be refilled. If the paintball markeruser does not keep the refill connector covered, dirt can be forced intothe connector during use in the field. If the refill connector is notcleaned before refilling the bottle, dirt can be swept into the bottle.It is common for dirt in the air supply to stick to internal seals andto interfere with the movement of internal parts; thereby, causing thepaintball marker to malfunction.

The bottle is generally attached to the butt of the paintball marker andprovides a secondary function of stabilizing the marker much like thestock of a conventional rifle. The pressured air from the primaryregulator pass through a flexible hose, commonly made of plastic orother durable material with an approximate outside diameter of about ¼inch, to a secondary regulator. Air from the primary regulator entersthe secondary regulator, which regulates and supplies air to thepaintball marker in the range of approximately 80 to 600 psi. Thepaintball marker uses the air supplied by the secondary regulator toimpel the paintball out of the barrel of the marker. Most secondaryregulators threadedly attach to the bottom of the paintball marker ashort distance in front of the trigger guard. The position of thesecondary regulator enables it to serve as a handgrip to stabilize thepaintball marker while in use; however, the location in which the supplyhose from the primary regulator attaches to the secondary regulator canlimit the secondary regulator's usefulness as a handgrip. If the hosefrom the primary regulator attaches to the secondary regulator on theside, it may be difficult to use the secondary regulator as a handgripas the position of the hose interferes with the user's hand or forcesthe user's grip into an unnatural position.

Some paintball markers are capable of impelling in excess of 20paintballs per second. A common characteristic of paintball markersunder rapid and sustained use is that the paintballs impelled towardsthe end of a sequence leave the paintball marker barrel with lessvelocity and travel a shorter distance than the balls at the beginningof the sequence. The decline of paintball velocity from the start of asustained sequence to the end of the sequence decreases accuracy.

In paintball sport competitions, the velocity at which a paintballmarker impels a paintball from its barrel is limited to 300 fps or lessto protect the participants from harm. A relationship exists between thegas pressure provided to the marker and the speed at which a paintballleaves the barrel. One method used to adjust the muzzle velocity of anexiting paintball is to increase or decrease the air pressure providedby the secondary regulator. Generally, rotating an adjustment screw orknob increases or decreases the gas pressure supplied by the secondaryregulator to the paintball marker and subsequently increases ordecreases the muzzle velocity of an exiting paintball. The adjustmentsmust be made while operating the paintball marker and whilesimultaneously measuring the exit velocity of an impelled paintball witha chronograph. The location of the adjustment screw or knob affects theease of adjusting the gas pressure of the secondary regulator.Adjustment screws or knobs located at the bottom of the secondaryregulator may make adjusting the gas pressure, and hence the exitvelocity of a paintball, awkward.

Accordingly, there is a need for an air pressure regulator that canmaintain a constant muzzle velocity during periods of rapid andsustained use that allows convenient adjustment from the side, thatminimizes the negative impact of dirt in the air supply and that acts asa convenient, natural handgrip. The present invention satisfies theseneeds, as well as others, and overcomes some of the deficiencies incurrent air driven projectile devices.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention overcomes the limitations and problems of the prior art byproviding an improved fluid pressure regulator. In one embodiment, theregulator is suitable for use as a regulator for a paintball marker. Inanother embodiment, the regulator output pressure is adjusted from aside position. In another embodiment, the pressure regulator may be shutoff. In another embodiment, the regulator inlet and outlet are placedaxially, with respect to each other, to facilitate its connectionbetween the high-pressure source and the device that may requireregulated fluid flow. In another embodiment, a high-pressure chamberstores fluid at high pressure to supplement fluid from the high pressuresource.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived byreferring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer tosimilar elements throughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a side view of an exemplary pneumatic pressureregulator.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a cross-sectional view of the exemplary pneumaticpressure regulator of FIG. 1 taken along the line 2—2, showing anexemplary larger stem area piston with the regulator in an openposition.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a cross-sectional view of the exemplary pneumaticpressure regulator of FIG. 1 taken along the line 2—2, showing anexemplary larger stem area piston with the regulator in the closedposition.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a perspective cross-sectional view of theexemplary pneumatic pressure regulator of FIG. 2 rotated clockwise by 45degrees, showing an exemplary larger stem area piston with the regulatorin the open position.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a cross-sectional view of the exemplary pneumaticpressure regulator of FIG. 1 taken along the lines 5—5 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a cross-sectional view of the exemplary pneumaticpressure regulator of FIG. 1 taken along the line 2—2, showing anexemplary smaller stem area piston with the regulator in an openposition.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a cross-sectional view an exemplary larger stemarea piston.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a cross-sectional view an exemplary smaller stemarea piston.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an exemplary adjustment mechanism with adjustmentcavity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the inventionherein makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show theexemplary embodiment by way of illustration and its best mode. Whilethese exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the invention, it should beunderstood that other embodiments may be realized and that logical andmechanical changes may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. Thus, the detailed description herein ispresented for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation. Forexample, the steps recited in any of the method or process descriptionsmay be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented.

For the sake of brevity, conventional aspects may not be described indetail herein. Furthermore, the component positions shown in the variousfigures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functionalrelationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. Itshould be noted that many alternative or additional functionalrelationships or physical connections may be present in a practicalsystem.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentinvention may be embodied as a customization of an existing system, anadd-on product, upgraded software, a stand alone system, a distributedsystem, a method, a data processing system, a device for dataprocessing, and/or a computer program product. Accordingly, the presentinvention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, or anembodiment combining aspects of both software and hardware.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an exemplary regulator body 10 may have threesections: a top section 16, a center section 14 and a base section 12connected together. Top section 16 may connect to a device that may useregulated fluid pressure, such as, for example, a paintball marker or apneumatic tool. An o-ring 22 may form a tight seal between top section16 and the device that may use the regulated fluid. In one embodiment,an axial passage through the top section 16 forms a regulated pressurechamber 20. Fluid from the regulated pressure chamber 20 may passthrough an outlet 18 into a device that may use the regulated fluid. Inanother embodiment, two instrument passages 26 and 32 made angularly tothe axial passage in top section 16, may allow instrumentation, such as,for example, a pressure gauge, to monitor the regulated pressurechamber. A piston chamber 36 may be located in an exemplary centersection. A piston 38 may be positioned and move axially in the centersection with the piston stem passing through a passage in the centersection. O-rings 40 and 52 may form a tight seal between the piston andthe center section. A bleed hole 44 allows the escape of fluid trappedbetween o-rings 40 and 52 during assembly. A main spring 42 may beplaced between the piston head and the center section. Energy from themain spring may force the piston towards the top section. A secondaryspring 34 may be placed between the top section and the piston head. Inan exemplary embodiment, the force provided by the secondary spring maybe less than the force provided by the main spring. The piston may stopin its movement towards the top section when it compresses the secondaryspring and forces it against the top section. The base section 12 mayattach to a high-pressure source (not shown) at an inlet 82. The inletmay allow fluid communication between the high-pressure source, ahigh-pressure chamber 80, bypass passages 78, and a seal chamber 56. Thevolume represented by the combined volumes of the inlet passage, thehigh-pressure chamber, the bypass passages, and the seal chamber may bereferred to as a high-pressure reserve. The bypass passages may bearranged to circumvent a seal seat cavity 70. The seal seat cavity mayopen into the seal chamber, but the seal seat cavity may not providefluid communication with the high-pressure chamber. In one embodiment,the seal seat cavity and inlet are axially located in the base section,the bypass passages are located circumferentially around the seal seatcavity, see FIG. 5, and the outlet is located in-line with the inlet andaxially in the top section; thereby allowing a hose from a high-pressuresource to enter the regulator body at an end of the body and not throughthe side of the body. A seal seat 62 may be slidably positioned in theseal seat cavity. A seal end 64 of the seal seat may be configured toseal a piston passage 48. Contact between end of the piston and a seal58 may stop fluid communication between the seal chamber and the pistonpassage. In one embodiment, an adjustment end 66 of the seal seat may beshaped to translate the movement of an adjustment sphere 74 intomovement of the seal seat. An adjustment rod 86 positioned in anadjustment passage 88 (refer to FIG. 4) may influence the movement ofthe adjustment sphere. An adjustor floor 76 may provide a hardenedsurface for the adjustment sphere to push against and may protect theend of the seal seat cavity from gouging. In another embodiment, theadjustment rod may directly contact the adjustment end of the seal seatto translate movement of the adjustment rod into movement of the sealseat. When the piston is in an open position, as shown in FIG. 2, thepiston passage may provide fluid communication between the regulatedpressure chamber and the high pressure reserve. In the open position,the seal does not contact the piston or close the piston passage. Whenthe piston is in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 3, the seal maycontact the piston stem and may form a tight seal, thereby stoppingfluid communication between the regulated pressure chamber and thehigh-pressure reserve.

Now turning to the adjustment of the regulated fluid pressure. The fluidpressure seen by the device using regulated fluid pressure is thepressure of the fluid in the regulated pressure chamber. The fluidpressure in the regulated pressure chamber may be influenced by at leastone of the position of the seal seat, the open or closed position statusof the piston, and spring tension. Moving the piston to an open positionmay allow fluid communication between the regulated pressure chamber andthe high-pressure reserve, which may increase the quantity and pressureof the fluid in the regulated pressure chamber. Moving the piston to aclosed position may stop fluid communication between the regulatedpressure chamber and the high-pressure reserve, which may allow thefluid pressure of the regulated pressure chamber to stabilize and/ordecrease. Increasing pressure in the regulated pressure chamber mayincrease the pneumatic force pressing on the piston head, which in turnpresses on the main spring. The pneumatic force on the piston and mainspring may move the piston closer to the closed position. Decreasing thepressure in the regulated pressure chamber may decrease the forcepressing on the piston head and the main spring and may enable the mainspring to move the piston towards the open position. Moving the sealseat closer to the piston may decrease the fluid pressure required inthe regulated pressure chamber to move the piston from the open to theclosed position. Moving the seal seat away from the piston may increasethe fluid pressure required in the regulated pressure chamber to movethe piston from the open to the closed position.

There are no limitations on the manner of adjusting the regulatedpressure. In one embodiment, the adjustment seat is held in a fixedposition and the regulated fluid pressure is determined by the force ofthe main spring. The regulated pressure may be adjusted by selecting amain spring with a spring constant that provides the desired regulatedfluid pressure. In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 4, the forceexerted by the main spring may work in cooperation with the position ofthe seal seat to adjust the desired, regulated pressure. The amount offorce exerted by a spring depends on its displacement. For any exemplaryspring, increasing the distance between the piston and the seal seat mayincrease the main spring displacement between the open and closedpositions, which in turn may require greater fluid pressure in theregulated pressure chamber and on the piston head before the main springforce is overcome and the piston moved into the closed position. Movingthe seal seat closer to the piston may decrease main spring displacementbetween the open and the closed positions and may decrease the fluidpressure required in the regulated pressure chamber to move the pistoninto the closed position. In another embodiment, magnetic force mayreplace and/or augment the force provided by the main spring. There areno limitations on how the position of the seal seat may be adjusted. Inone embodiment, Referring to FIG. 4, the adjustment passage is openbetween the exterior of the base section and the seal seat cavity. Theadjustment rod may be located in the adjustment passage and may contactthe adjustment sphere (contact not shown for clarity of adjustmentmechanism). The adjustment rod may move the adjustment sphere againstthe adjustment end of the seal seat, which in turn may move the sealseat closer to the piston. Moving the adjustment rod away from theadjustment sphere may allow the adjustment sphere to move away from theadjustment end of the seal seat, which may allow the seal seat to moveaway from piston. In one embodiment, the adjustment rod is a screw andthe shape of the adjustment end of the seal seat is similar to a ramphaving about a 30-degree angle with respect to the adjustor floor. Theangle of the ramp may lie between about 10 degrees to about 50 degrees.In another embodiment, the ramp is formed in a groove that may betterdirect the movement of the adjustment sphere. The shape of the end ofthe adjustment rod that may contact the adjustment sphere may beselected from the group of flat, concave, convex, pointed, andirregular. In another embodiment, the adjustment passage isperpendicular to the seal seat cavity. In another embodiment, the sealseat is positioned axially to the inlet, the piston, and the outlet. Inanother embodiment, referring to FIG. 9, an adjustment cavity 94 in thewall of the seal seat cavity opposite the adjustment passage allows theadjustment sphere to move a greater distance towards the end of theadjustment end of the seal seat; thereby providing additional range ofadjustment. In another embodiment, the spring constant of the mainspring is fixed, the seal seat is in a fixed position and the regulatedpressure is set by the length of the piston stem. In another embodiment,the adjustment rod may directly contact the seal seat and modify theposition of the seal seat.

Now turning to the operation of an exemplary embodiment of theinvention. When an embodiment of the regulator is attached to thepaintball marker, just prior to pulling the paintball marker trigger,the regulated pressure chamber may be filled with fluid at the desiredpressure and the piston may be in the closed position, as depicted inFIG. 3. Pulling the paintball marker trigger, opens a valve inside themarker that allows the fluid in the regulated pressure chamber torapidly exhaust through the outlet. The paintball marker then closes itsvalve; thereby sealing the possibly vacated regulated pressure chamber.When the fluid pressure in the regulated chamber drops, the main springmay force the piston into the open position, as depicted in FIG. 2,which may allow high-pressure fluid to enter the regulated chamber fromthe high-pressure reserve. In turn, high-pressure fluid may enter thehigh-pressure reserve through the inlet from the high-pressure source.The influx of high-pressure fluid into the regulated pressure chamberincreases fluid pressure in the regulated pressure chamber, which inturn pushes against the piston head. When the fluid pressure in theregulated pressure chamber reaches a predetermined pressure, the pistonmay be moved into the closed position. Pulling the paintball markertrigger re-starts the regulation sequence.

Now turning to an exemplary piston embodiment. There are no limitationson the size, or shape of the piston. In one embodiment, the piston headis circular. In another embodiment, the piston passage is an axialpassage. In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 7, the piston stemoutside diameter decreases on a high fluid pressure side 90 of o-ring52; thereby leaving a relatively large surface area exposed to the highfluid pressure of the seal chamber. Such a piston embodiment may bereferred to as a larger stem area piston embodiment. In anotherembodiment, referring to FIG. 8, the piston stem outside diameterdecreases on a lower fluid pressure side 92 of o-ring 52; therebyleaving a relatively small surface area exposed to the high fluidpressure of the seal chamber. Such a piston embodiment may be referredto as a smaller stem area piston embodiment. The piston stem surfacearea exposed to high fluid pressure may affect regulator performance.For example, in a regulator embodiment using the larger stem area pistonembodiment, the pressure of the fluid in the seal chamber pushingagainst the piston stem may decrease low pressure performance. In oneembodiment, six spring washers, each with a load of 283 pounds atdeflection, formed the main spring. In the absence of the secondaryspring, this embodiment of the regulator would not regulate below 150psi even though adjusted for lower pressure. Using a wave spring with aload of 6.26 pounds at deflection as the secondary spring enabled thisembodiment of the regulator to linearly regulate as low as 20 psi. Theforce of the secondary spring may have counteracted the force ofhigh-pressure fluid on the piston stem. Another effect of high pressureon the larger stem area piston embodiment is that, for one regulatorembodiment, the regulated pressure varied with the input pressure. Forexample, varying the pressure of the high-pressure source from 500 psito 1,000 psi caused about a 20 psi increase in the regulated pressure.Another embodiment demonstrates the performance of the smaller stem areapiston embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6. This embodiment eliminated thesecondary spring. The main spring comprised six spring washers with aload of 283 pounds at defection. This embodiment of the regulatorregulated linearly from 0 to 500 psi. No trace of a minimum regulatedpressure was detected. Additionally, the regulated pressure was moreindependent of the input pressure. Varying the pressure of thehigh-pressure source from 500 psi to 1,000 psi resulted in about a 10psi increase in the regulated pressure. No effort was made to determinethe threshold amount of stem area that resulted in performanceimprovement without the presence of the secondary spring. In oneembodiment of the smaller stem area piston, the inside diameter of thepiston (diameter of the piston passage) was about 172/1000 inches andthe outside diameter of the piston stem on the high-pressure side ofo-ring 52 is at its largest point about 245/1000 inches.

Now turning to fluid flow in an exemplary embodiment. Two aspects of anexemplary embodiment may contribute to consistent fluid flow duringsustained use. The first aspect that may contribute to consistent,sustained fluid flow may be the diameter of the piston passage and theaccumulative diameter of all passages that may be a part of thehigh-pressure reserve, such as, for example, any opening in the sealchamber, the diameter of each bypass passage, any opening in thehigh-pressure chamber passage, and the diameter of the inlet. Anexemplary embodiment uses a piston passage of diameter sufficient toprovide consistent fluid flow during sustained use and the cumulativediameter of passages through the high-pressure reserve may be at leastas much as the piston passage diameter. In one embodiment, the pistonpassage diameter is 172/1000 inches, and there are six bypass passageseach of a diameter of 125/1000 inches. In another embodiment, theaccumulative diameter area of the four bypass passages may be greaterthan the diameter of the piston passage. In another embodiment, onebypass passage may have a diameter at least as large as the pistonpassage diameter. A second aspect that may contribute to consistent,sustained fluid flow may be the presence of the high-pressure reserve.The high-pressure reserve may act as a reservoir of high-pressure fluidto reduce the impact of a primary regulator incapable of providing fluidflow sufficient for sustained use. The volume of the high-pressurereserve may be increased by increasing the volume of at least one of theinlet passage, the high-pressure chamber, the bypass passages, and theseal chamber.

The ideal gas law may be used to calculate the relative volume of theregulated pressure chamber to the volume of the high-pressure reserve.The ideal gas law is PV=nRT where P is pressure, V is volume, n is thenumber of moles of gas, R is the idea gas constant, and T istemperature. The amount of fluid in the regulated pressure chamberrelative to the high-pressure reserve may be reflected by the ratio ofthe product of the pressure and the volume of each chamber. For thecalculation, the volume of the piston passage may be added to the volumeof the regulated pressure chamber because in the closed position, thepiston passage lies in the regulated fluid domain. In one samplecalculation, the pressure of the high-pressure source may be 500 psi andthe regulated pressure may be 200 psi. In one embodiment, using theabove pressures, the ratio of the product of the high-pressure reserve'spressure and volume to the product of the regulated pressure chamber'spressure and volume is about one. The ratio of the volume of thehigh-pressure reserve to the volume of the regulated pressure chamber isabout 0.39. In another embodiment, the ratio of the pressure and volumeproducts for the above pressures is about 1.14. The ratio of the volumeof the high-pressure reserve to the volume of the regulated pressurechamber is about 0.45. A ratio of the product of the pressure and volumeof about one may allow the high-pressure reserve to once fill theregulated chamber to the regulated pressure without drawing any fluidfrom the high-pressure source. Alternately, the high-pressure reservemay supply a portion of the fluid required by the regulated chamber eachtime the high-pressure supply does not supply the entire amountrequired; thereby allowing the regulator to consistently supplyregulated fluid at the desired pressure during a sustain sequence.Increasing the pressure of the high-pressure source may increase theratio. Decreasing the regulated pressure may also increase the ratio. Aregulator with a higher ratio of the product of pressure and volume maybetter supply fluid at the regulated pressure during a sustainedsequence.

An additional aspect of fluid flow in an exemplary embodiment may be thenumber of seals in the flow path. In an exemplary embodiment, the fluidpath from the inlet to the outlet may not force fluid to flow past anyseal, except the seal attached to the seal seat. Ideally, fluid does notflow around the outside of the piston stem or head. Channeling fluidflow through large, open passages and past a single seal may decreasethe opportunity for foreign objects carried in the fluid, such as, forexample, dirt, to get trapped by or to adhere to a surface or seal,thereby interfering with proper operation. In an exemplary embodiment,the only location where the fluid flow passage narrows is where thepiston contacts the seal on the seal seat. A seal made of softermaterial may be better adapted to sealing the piston passage than a sealmade of harder material; however, softer material may increase thelikelihood of trapping dirt on the seal. The material for the seal in anexemplary embodiment is urethane; however, other suitable seal materialmay be at least one of neopreme, polyurethane, sorbothane,polytetrafluoroethylene, and similar materials known to the art. In oneembodiment, the seal is a disc of urethane having a diameter about equalto the diameter of the seal end of the seal seat. One skilled in the artwill appreciate that the seal is not limited to a disk shape.

In one embodiment, the seal may be attached to the seal seat using aretainer ring 60. The retainer ring may fit tightly around the seal endof the seal seat and may have an opening large enough to allow thepiston stem to pass through to contact the seal, thereby, stopping fluidflow. Other methods of attaching the seal to the seal seat depend on thetype of material and the shape of the seal. In one embodiment, an o-ringmay be placed in a groove in the seal seat. In another embodiment, discshaped seals of various materials may be attached to the seal seat withat least one of a rivet, a screw, and other means of attachment. Inanother embodiment, an annular seal may be placed in a groove inside thepiston passage and the seal end of the seal seat may be conical inshape. The piston passage may be sealed when the conical shape contactsthe seal inside the piston passage.

Now turning to shutting off the regulator. In one embodiment, theadjustment mechanism may be used to shut off all fluid flow through theregulator. The piston may be forced into the shut-off position bymanipulating the adjustment rod until the seal seat pushing against thepiston stem and forces the piston head into contact with the topsection. In the shut-off position, the piston may be held immobile andthe seal stops all fluid flow through the piston passage. The piston maystay in the shut-off position until the adjustment rod is manipulatedsuch that the seal seat moves away from the piston and the piston awayfrom the top section; thereby, allowing the piston to move in responseto changes of fluid pressure in the regulated pressure chamber.

Now turning to exemplary methods of construction and assembly. There areno limitations on how the regulator and/or its component parts aremanufactured and/or assembled. In one embodiment, modular manufactureand assembly may be used. In a modular embodiment, multiple sections,for example, a top, a center, and a base may be used. Each section maybe manufactured independently of the other sections. Each section mayalso be manufactured with a variety of characteristics, so thatselecting sections with different individual characteristics may resultin different regulator characteristics. For example, a top section mayhave at least one of an instrument passage, threaded connectors, anexpanded regulated chamber, an electronic pressure sensor, a pressurerelease valve, quick-disconnect connectors, a selected color, andselected material. A center section may have at least one of mainsprings with a higher spring constant, a main spring with a lower springconstant, an electromechanical pressure sensor, an electronic pressuresensor, a secondary spring, a piston with a flat head, a piston with ahemispherical head, a shorter piston stem, a longer piston stem, asmaller piston passage, a larger piston passage, a larger stem areapiston, a smaller stem area piston, a piston passage configured for aconical seal, higher volume seal chamber, lower volume seal chamber,threaded connectors, quick-disconnect connectors, a selected color, andselected material. A base section may have at least one of a larger sealseat, a smaller seal seat, a fixed-position seal seat, a harder seal, asofter seal, a conical seal, a spherical seal, an o-ring seal, a sealring, a seal rivet, a higher volume high-pressure chamber, a smallervolume high-pressure chamber, fewer bypass passages, more bypasspassages, higher volume bypass passages, smaller volume bypass passages,a larger inlet, a smaller inlet, a ramp and sphere adjustment mechanism,an adjustment cavity, a threaded adjustment mechanism, threadedconnectors, quick-disconnect connectors, an electronic pressure sensor,a pressure release valve, a selected color, and a selected material.Each section, with its selected characteristics, may be manufactured andassembled independently in advance of final selection and assembly ofthe sections to form a fluid regulator. An exemplary method of assemblymay have a uniform connection type between the various sectionsregardless of the characteristics of the individual sections; therebyallowing sections to interconnect regardless of the characteristics ofeach section. For example, in one embodiment, any top section may beconnected to any center section, and any center section may be connectedto any base section. For this embodiment, final assembly of theregulator may be accomplished by connecting a top section, havingdesired characteristics, to a center section having desiredcharacteristics, and the center section in turn may be connected to abase section having desired characteristics.

Now turning to exemplary materials. There are no limitations on thetypes of materials that may be used to construct an embodiment of theregulator and/or any embodiment of any component that may be used in aregulator embodiment. One embodiment may use butyl o-rings, a urethaneseal, a stainless steel adjustor floor, spring steel in springs, andanodized aluminum. Other embodiments may use at least one of titanium,brass, iron, steel, aluminum, composite materials, and plastic

Although the description above contains many details, these should notbe construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of the exemplary embodiments of thisinvention. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of thepresent invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may becomeobvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the presentinvention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than theappended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is notintended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, butrather “one or more.” All structural, chemical, and functionalequivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodimentsthat are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or methodto address each and every problem sought to be solved by the presentinvention, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore,no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether theelement, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, no elementdescribed herein is required for the practice of the invention unlessexpressly described as “essential” or “critical”.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus configured to facilitate fluidpressure regulation, comprising: a body having an inlet, an outlet, aregulated pressure chamber, and a high-pressure reserve; a piston havinga piston passage and a smaller stem area, being slidably mounted in saidbody, said piston biased in an open position and being movable to aclosed position in response to increased fluid pressure on said piston;a seal seat slidably mounted in said body, said seal seat having a sealend configured to seal said piston passage and a shaped adjustment end;and, an adjustment mechanism having a screw, and a sphere, said screwdisposable in a passage formed angularly to said body, said sphere incooperation with said screw and said shaped adjustment end translatingdisplacement of said screw into displacement of said seal seat.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of said inlet, said outlet,said regulated chamber, said piston passage, and said seal seat ispositioned axially to at least one of said inlet, said outlet, saidregulated chamber, said piston passage, and said seal seat.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising an adjustment cavity, wherein aportion of said adjustment sphere may enter said adjustment cavity. 4.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of said regulated pressurechamber and said high-pressure reserve is associated with a volume, andwherein the ratio of said volume of said high-pressure reserve to saidvolume of said regulated pressure chamber is at least about 0.39.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said regulated pressure chamber and saidhigh-pressure reserve is each associated with a volume and a pressure,and wherein the ratio the product of said volume and said pressure ofsaid high-pressure reserve to said regulated pressure chamber is atleast about one.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of saidregulated pressure chamber and said high-pressure reserve is associatedwith a volume, and wherein the ratio of said volume of saidhigh-pressure reserve to said volume of said regulated pressure chamberis at least about 0.39.
 7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein saidregulated pressure chamber and said high-pressure reserve is eachassociated with a volume and a pressure, and wherein the ratio theproduct of said volume and said pressure of said high-pressure reserveto said regulated pressure chamber is at least about one.
 8. Anapparatus configured to facilitate fluid pressure regulation,comprising: a body having an inlet, an outlet, a regulated pressurechamber, and a high-pressure reserve; means for regulating fluidpressure at said outlet including a piston having a piston passage and asmaller stem area, being slidably mounted in said body, said pistonbiased in an open position and being movable to a closed position inresponse to increased fluid pressure on said piston; means for sealingsaid piston passage including a seal seat slidably mounted in said bodyand configured to seal said piston passage; means for an adjustmentmechanism configured for adjusting fluid pressure at said outlet, saidadjustment mechanism comprising an adjustment rod and a sphere, saidadjustment rod disposed in a bore formed angularly to said body, saidsphere in cooperation with said adjustment rod and said seal seattranslates displacement of said adjustment rod into displacement of saidseal seat.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said adjustment rodcomprises a screw.
 10. An apparatus configured to facilitate fluidpressure regulation, comprising: a movable piston having a pistonpassage therethrough a base section having an inlet and a high-pressurereserve; a seal seat slidably mounted in said base section, said sealseat having a seal end configured to seal the piston passage and anadjustment end; a sphere interfacing with said adjustment end; and, anadjustment rod disposed in a passage formed in said base section, saidsphere in cooperation with said adjustment rod and said adjustment endtranslates displacement of said adjustment rod into displacement of saidseal seat.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the direction ofdisplacement of said adjustment rod is approximately orthogonal to thedirection of displacement of said seal seat.
 12. The apparatus of claim10, wherein the direction of displacement of said adjustment rodrelative to the direction of displacement of said seal seat is greaterthan 0 degrees and less than 180 degrees.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein said adjustment rod comprises a screw.
 14. A method forfacilitating the assembly of a fluid regulator, said method comprising:selecting a top section having an outlet; selecting a center sectionhaving a piston, a piston passage and a smaller stem area, said pistonbiased in an open position and movable to a closed position in responseto increased fluid pressure on said piston; selecting a base sectionhaving an inlet, a seal seat, a high-pressure chamber, and an adjustmentmechanism, said seal seat configured to seal said piston passage, saidadjustment mechanism configured to adjust fluid pressure at said outlet,said adjustment mechanism comprising an adjustment rod and a sphere,said sphere interfacing with said seal seat, said adjustment rodinterfacing with said sphere, wherein said sphere in cooperation withsaid adjustment rod and said seal seat translates displacement of saidadjustment rod into displacement of said seal seat; connecting said topsection to said center section; and, connecting said center section tosaid base section.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said outlet isconfigured to connect to a paintball marker and said inlet is configuredto connect to a high-pressure source.
 16. The method of claim 14,wherein said said adjustment rod comprises a screw.
 17. An apparatusconfigured to facilitate fluid pressure regulation, comprising: a topsection having an outlet; a center section having a piston with an axialpassage open at both ends and slidably mounted in said center section,said piston biased in an open position and being movable to a closedposition in response to increased gas pressure on said piston, saidcenter section interfacing with said top section; a base section havingan inlet, said base section interfacing with said center section; a sealseat slidably mounted in said base section and adapted to directly sealone end of said axial passage when said piston is in said closedposition, said seal seat moving primarily axially.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 17, additionally comprising an adjustment rod and a sphere adaptedto adjust fluid pressure at said outlet, wherein said sphere incooperation with said adjustment rod and said seal seat translatesdisplacement of said adjustment rod into axial displacement of said sealseat.